Friday, June 26, 2015

After recent inquires regarding the hype behind cycling and fried rice, I figured that I would share my personal creation of fried rice, along with minimal nutrition concepts.

Dr. Allen Lim and Skratch Labs are largely responsible for cyclists adopting rice, as a staple, instead of pasta. In an attempt to stimulate taste buds and nourish fatigued cyclists, enter fried rice.

Preparation

Before beginning to cook, leftovers are ideal for stir fry recipes. Therefore, keep a well-stocked refrigerator.

While heating a pan, with a small amount of olive oil, begin to assemble all of your stir fry ingredients. With a pan warming on medium/high heat, the process will move quickly. A hot pan is necessary for stir fry creations.

A little olive oil goes a long way.

The starters.

Cooking

With a warm pan, spread the olive oil.

Next, add a generous amount of rice. For this creation, I utilized brown jasmine rice.

After adding the rice, include soy sauce and hot sauce for taste. With rice, soy sauce, and hot sauce mixed in a warm pan, shuffle the solution to one side of the pan.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

After much anticipation, Thereabouts #2 is beginning to take shape with additional publicity.

While Thereabouts #1 managed to gather massive interest, a second journey, from Boulder, Colo. to Moab, Utah, appears to have raised the bar.

Initial images were posted to the CyclingTips Instagram account in late May. Now, CyclingTips has released a recap of the five-day Thereabouts Reprise in the words of Gus Morton, Lachlan Morton, Cameron Wurf, and Taylor Phinney.

After encountering a bumpy beginning that was focused on media, publicity, and style, the second Thereabouts journey evolved to including harsh terrain, brutal storms, and the true essence of Thereabouts.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

This past weekend of endurance mountain bike racing in Big Bear, Calif. marked a completion of the 2015 Kenda Cup West series.

For me, the endurance mountain bike series consisted of three races, out of a possible four competitions. However, from start to finish, the racing was no easy task.

The Big Bear location posed a unique challenge, as competition occurred between 7,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation. Course totals included 42 miles, with plenty of challenging singletrack, and 5,500 feet of climbing.

During the Big Bear event and throughout the Kenda Cup West series, a common theme continued to haunt me. After starting well and feeling fresh, I managed to fall apart around the three hour mark. More insight and details are located in my Kenda Cup West, Los Olivos race report.

Overall, due to my difficulties, which were caused by a lack of time spent training on the mountain bike, the entire Kenda Cup West series managed to be a roller coaster ride.

Determination and a plethora of support continued to inspire my performance. After three Kenda Cup West races, I managed to escape with two victories and one second place finish. My results and consistency secured the series overall and the Endurance State Championship title, for the 19-29 age category. I am beyond ecstatic to have conquered my goal of securing a top-three overall finish.

Kenda Cup West series podium presentation.

Not a bad podium location.

As a member of Team Rokform, numerous individuals, sponsors, and brands were instrumental in my success. A big thank you goes out to GU Energy Labs, for their nutritional support and positive backing.

Last but not least, it is absolutely necessary to publicly thank my close family and friends, especially my father, mother, and brother. It was a joy to spend a full day in Big Bear with plenty of support and motivation.

Friday, June 5, 2015

At its most recent Wednesday evening meeting, the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Wheelmen cycling team crowned its May Strava Champions. Julia Maceand Sean Birdwere the official champions, for the female and male categories.

Madison Giger, with her WD-40 award.

From left to right: Sean Bird, Jonathan Schmidt, and Liam McDonnell.

Cal Poly Wheelmen sponsor WD-40 generously provided awards, from its cycling specific line, which includes cleaning agents and lubricants. During the month of May, participating Wheelmen members tallied over 23 days of collective ride time!For the academic year, which includes October, November, and January through May, Cal Poly Wheelmen members completed over 140 days of ride time. Super!

Cal Poly Wheelmen ride statistics.

The Wheelmen Strava challenge was a new concept for the 2014-15 academic school year. It encouraged cycling, both on a social and competitive basis.Riders were awarded points for ride time, group riding, and racing. Both group riding and racing provided extra points.Thank you to Wheelmen President Hank Mandsager for tallying ride statistics, throughout the entire school year.